Shirakawa Village

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Awa-chan visited Shirakawa on May 14. "I remember when this place was new", she laughed, "and a bear stole Tanaka-san's shoe". It was a bad enough bite, and Mr. Tanaka had quite a scar, but that bear walked around with his shoe for over a year.

"Tanaka-san always had bad luck with women", Awa-chan said. He lived alone for many years because he was extremely cheap. Finally he met a woman who never ate anything, and quickly married her.

When Tanaka-san's wife got sick that winter, she did not recover. "And she turned into a bear", Awa-chan explained with a mouth full of rice.